Where is Kuroko?
by madamada-chan
Summary: When Kuroko doesn't show up for practice, Kagami sets out to find him. With a little help from his partner's former teammates.


Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke's creator is Fujimaki Tadatoshi-sensei. This is just fan work. If you enjoy it just a bit, I'll be happy. ^^

**Where is Kuroko?**

"Geez" Kagami sighed, tightening his shoe lace before getting up. He grabbed his sports bag then headed out of his apartment.

Half an hour ago, he was just getting ready to go to his part time work at the drugstore where he, Kuroko and Kiyoshi had worked at before. The job was simple enough, all they had to do was hand out balloons and flyers… as mascots.

But then their coach suddenly called, saying she wanted to try something out and needs everyone to come to her dad's sports gym for practice. He felt bad at first for calling to cancel work on such short notice, but told himself it was all for the sake of improving in basketball so he had to do it. And besides, as much as he did not want to admit it, the only reason he wanted to do the part time job was to buy a new pair of basketball shoes.

Thanks to Number 2, he noticed some time ago that the sole of one of his old shoes was pretty much done for. Had he used it, he might have hurt himself. And since he needed to buy a new pair anyway, he decided to go for the pair he really, really wanted- a new product that his favorite NBA player was endorsing. His father was not about to give him money for that kind of splurging, though, so he had to work for it.

As soon as he closed the door behind him, he felt the hot, humid air cling to his skin. He started to think that maybe it was not too bad that he had to take time off work today. After all, who could possibly wear a mascot costume in this scorching weather. And if they were going to use the pool like before, then even better.

"Hey guys" He greeted as soon as he came into Aida Sports Gym's swimming pool level.

"Hey Kagami" He heard the others greet him back while he was putting his sports bag down. He unzipped his bag then took out his swim wear and a towel. He was about to get changed when Riko approached him.

"Kagami-kun, where's Kuroko-kun?"

"I dunno" Kagami shrugged, then quickly added "Ma'am"

He took a quick glance around the pool. Koganei was happily playing around, splashing water all over his fellow first years. Hyuuga was peacefully sitting on the edge of the pool, before Kiyoshi snuck up behind him and pushed him into the water, startling Tsuchida who was sitting not too far from the captain. It looked like only Izuki and Mitobe were acting their age, quietly sitting on a bench close to the pool. "He's not here? That's odd, he wouldn't skip practice for no reason."

"I wonder if Kuroko-kun already made plans for today… It was a bit sudden after all."

Kagami thought back on the day before.

_He remembered going with Kuroko to the bookstore because a new issue of Basketball Monthly had come out, and Kuroko also wanted to check if the next volume of his favorite detective series was already released. Kagami found his magazine, but Kuroko came out empty handed, saying he was told that everything had been pre-ordered so he had to wait for the next shipment. _

_He then asked if Kuroko wanted to go to Maji Burger together and secretly planned to treat him to vanilla shake to cheer him up. As they got closer to the familiar "M" sign in front of the burger joint, Kagami heard someone calling them. Or to be more precise, his shorter companion. _

"_Kurokocchi~!"_

_Kuroko stopped and turned to look. Kagami grimaced, he knew that exasperatingly jolly voice all too well. His face turned stiff before he turned around. _

"_Kise, you… Why are you here again?"_

" _I had a photo shoot in Tokyo today, but since the studio was just fifty stops from your school, I figured I'd come say Hi to Kurokocchi" Kise giggled, but his smile was soon wiped off his face and was replaced by a worried frown._

"_Kurokocchi, what's wrong? You look down."_

"_Huh?" Kagami blinked. _

_He stared at Kuroko's face. It looked… well… normal. How Kise could tell was beyond him._

"_I went to the bookstore with Kagami-kun today, but I didn't find what I wanted." _

"_Aw… Wait, are you talking about your favorite novel series?" Kise ruffled Kuroko's hair._

"_Mm." Kuroko nodded, gently prying off Kise's hand._

"_Ah! I know. There's a little book store close to Maru Maru Studio where I had my photo shoot. I can look there if you want. It's small, and it's usually empty because it's off of the main street and not very visible. I'll call you tomorrow if I find it!" Kise grinned. _

_His smile was so bright, Kagami had to cover his eyes to protect them from the glare. Then he saw that Kuroko's face, too, lit up with a small, hopeful smile. He could not understand why, but it irritated him a bit. He was hoping getting Kuroko a vanilla shake would do that._

"Kise… that bastard…" Kagami uttered between clenched teeth, startling Riko.

"He kidnapped him again!"

Kagami's yell reverberated throughout the entire pool area, making the entire team turn to him wide-eyed.

-x-

Half an hour later, Kagami found himself in front of Maru Maru Studio. The right turn at the next corner led to a smaller street and in just a few steps, he arrived at an old two-story building. On the first floor, there was a bookstore. The main entrance was so small, Kagami wondered if he could fit into it. The sign above the window was barely noticeable too, just a little wooden signboard with the store's name and a flying squirrel drawing. Just as Kise said, it was easy to miss.

There was no mistake, the store had to be the one Kise was talking about. As if right on cue, the glass door opened, hitting the little chimes above it. He then heard a far too energetic voice saying "Thank you!" from inside.

A blonde head was the first thing that popped out, as Kise had to duck while exiting the store. He straightened up with the gracefulness of a model, which disappeared in an instant when Kise noticed him and stepped back awkwardly in surprise, making his head hit the door frame.

"Ow ow ow…" Kise grimaced. "What the hell, Kagamicchi. Don't scare me like that."

He bent down to pick up a package he dropped. It was a small brown paper bag that sported the store's flying squirrel logo. He gently dusted dirt off the surface before carefully cradling it with one arm.

Kagami realized he must have been looking at Kise with such a scary face to startle Kaijo's ace like that. Like he cared. The more important thing at the moment was to find Kuroko.

"What brings you here, Kagamicchi?"

Kagami's (double) eyebrows twitched at the nickname. "I said stop calling me that! More importantly, where did you take him?"

"Eh?" Kise blinked, looking completely clueless.

Kagami looked around, then fixed his eyes at the door behind Kise. After a couple of minutes passed and no blue-headed brat came out, Kagami felt even more irritated. He mustered an even angrier look, startling Kise once again. This time, however, Kise held his ground and looked straight into his eyes.

"I don't really get it, but, Kagamicchi, are you perhaps talking about Kurokocchi?"

"AH! I KNEW IT! Why you…!" Kagami was ready to lunge.

"Wait, wait! You've got it all wrong!" Kise waved his hands. "He isn't with me. Besides, why would I take him here if I was going to get him a surprise?"

"Surprise?" Kagami raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

"This" Kise held up the package. "I got what Kurokocchi wanted!" He beamed, face brimming with satisfaction.

Kagami sighed, feeling an oncoming headache. "How do you know what he wants anyway?"

There was no mistake that Kagami had the strongest connection with Kuroko more than anyone else on the court, but outside, he had to admit he could never tell what Kuroko was thinking. Sure, Kise had been Kuroko's teammate in middle school, but he could only know him so well in the span of two years. "Are you sure that's the book that he wanted?"

"Positive" Kise nodded "I even called Aominecchi last night to… make sure…"

Kise's eyes momentarily widened, before it flared up. This was the first time Kagami had seen Kise so… pissed. He did not look anywhere near model-like as he hastily took out his cell phone from his pants pocket and furiously dialed a number.

The silence was so tense Kagami could not bring himself to say anything. A couple of minutes later, he started roaring at the phone. "Aominecchi, you bastard!"

-x-

"Ahhh… Ami-chan… if only your dress was a little more tight-fitting… I'd be able to tell what cup you wear…"

Aomine mumbled in his sleep before rolling over, tightly clinging to a glossy magazine that had the picture of a girl with thick makeup on the cover, arguably posing like a cat. She was dressed in a light brown tube with black tiger stripes. Glittering gold text above wrote Glamorous Photo Collection Series~ Umino Ami.

"Hnnngh… 'E'… yeah… I think you're an 'E'…"

Aomine jolted awake when his cell phone rang. For a split second, he dumbly wondered why the alarm went off, as he was pretty sure he never sets the alarm during his precious weekends. He fumbled for his phone on the bedside table until he got it.

He was starting to get annoyed, whoever was calling him better be doing so for a damn good reason. Otherwise, he was going to beat someone up. He squinted his eyes, letting it adjust to the bright light coming from both his window and his phone. The name on the screen read Kise Ryota.

"Aominecchi, you bastard!"

Kise's yell came through as soon as he flipped his phone open and pressed the call button. Aomine was able to hold the cell phone a foot away from his ear by sheer reflex, honed by constantly getting yelled at by Momoi even over the phone. He yawned, rubbing his eyes.

"What the hell, Kise. It's just 11:30."

"Don't you mean it's _already_ 11:30? Anyway, where's Kurokocchi? After I told you last night all about the book, you decided to buy it yourself, didn't you? You're with Kurokocchi right now to give him the book, aren't you? Aominecchi, you traitor!"

In Aomine's half asleep mind, the only thing he heard other than Kuroko's name was blah, blah and blah. He stretched, waiting a full 2 minutes for Kise to calm down and stop hollering before putting the phone back in his ear. "And? What about Tetsu?"

He heard an exasperated sigh.

"Aominecchi, are you even listening? I said Kagamicchi is here looking for Kurokocchi because he didn't show up at practice. Their coach called him this morning too but he didn't pick up."

"Hmmm…" Aomine grunted, scratching his stomach. He stretched one more time and got up. Since he was already awake anyway, he thought he might as well do something. "I'm going to play some street basketball later so I'll drop by some of Tetsu's favorite hang outs along the way. I'll call you if I see him. Later."

Aoimine grabbed his towel and was about to press the end call button before he heard Kise say "Ah, wait Aominecchi! One last thing, you didn't buy the book did you?"

Aomine hung up and tossed the phone to his bed.

-x-

"Where the hell did he go…" Aomine flopped down on a wooden bench, letting out a frustrated sigh.

He wiped sweat in his forehead with the back of his hand. Licking his parched lips, he felt his throat had gone a bit dry from the heat. It was right smack in the middle of the day, after all. He quietly thanked whoever set up the vending machine beside the bench he was sitting on as he got up and fished some coins from his pocket for a can of Pocari. He sat back down and pressed the can to his cheek, relishing the cold feel of the tin.

He opened the can and took big gulps of the cool drink. He had been out for a good two hours now. His original plan of going to the street basketball court was sidetracked when he made a few stops- the burger joint, the public library, the arcade, some familiar bookstores and even a few sportswear stores.

Upon thinking of the word 'stores' Aomine choked on his drink and coughed violently.

He hurriedly took out his phone and dialled a number. After seven rings a sweet feminine voice spoke on the other end. "Dai-chan? What's up?"

"Oi Satsuki, did you drag Tetsu to go shopping with you again?"

"No, I'm at home actually. And why Tetsu-kun? Don't tell me… Dai-chan! Did something happen to him!"

Aomine reflexively took the phone away from his ear by at least a foot. He mentally smacked himself. It was a stupid idea to call his childhood friend knowing full well how much racket she'd make when it came to his former Shadow.

"Nah, I was just wondering where he is. Later!" Aomine hurriedly spoke then hung up, not caring how blatant his excuse was.

When he pressed the end call button, Momoi's name and number on the screen disappeared and was replaced by his wallpaper- a picture of Kuroko obliviously asleep, leaning on one of the lockers. Looking at it, Aomine's face relaxed into a smile. It was more than a year already since that shot was taken, that's how long he had the picture on his phone and yet the subject had completely no clue.

It was the day before their finals game in their sophomore year, so practice was more intense than ever. Their drills that week were especially tough, so it had been hard on their bodies. He could only imagine how exhausting it must have been for his smaller teammate, who was just so… _unbelievably_ frail. It was no surprise at all that he conked out as soon as he sat down in the locker room to rest after practice- dead to the world.

When Momoi came to fetch them to go home together as they usually did, Aomine told her to go ahead, saying he wanted to let Kuroko sleep a bit more. But rather than doing that, Momoi ecstatically barged into the room. She was not about to pass up a once in a lifetime chance to see Kuroko's sleeping face!

She hastily dug through her bag and grabbed her phone, only to see it had run out of battery. She let out a distressed groan, and seeing her look as if she was about to cry, Aomine took out his own phone and gave it to her. "Here"

"Dai-chan you're the best!" Momoi gave him a quick hug and clicked away, snapping pictures of a blissfully dozing Kuroko who Aomine mused was probably dreaming of petting a fluffy tri-coloured stray cat.

That night, Momoi relentlessly reminded him to forward the pictures to her. What she did not know was that he had also kept the pictures all this time. He had been using one as his cell phone's wall paper, even.

He snapped out of his thoughts when his phone rang. This time the screen showed the SMS icon and Momoi's number. He clicked on the message and read.

/Btw, I got the book you asked me to look for.

There's one last book available in Tokyo, so I'll text you the store's address.

Don't forget to tell Tetsu-kun I was the one who found it!/

"Right then, should get back to finding this guy."

Feeling nostalgic, he decided to go to the one place he had not gone to yet- the street basketball court he and Kuroko used to play at. He finished the rest of his drink then snapped his phone close. After crumpling the can, he effortlessly tossed it to the trash bin without looking.

He had only taken five steps when he stopped, turned around and got another can of Pocari. He just figured that on a sweltering day like this, 'Tetsu' could use a cold can of his favorite sports drink. 'If I find him before the liquid inside turns lukewarm anyway', he added as an afterthought.

-x-

"Aominecchi!"

As soon as Aomine got to the court, Kise waved at him, looking as cheerful as ever. Behind him was Kagami, whose expression was the exact opposite- he looked tired and hot and fed up, to say the least. The two of them asked at the same time.

"Any signs of Kuroko?"

"Did you see Kurokocchi?"

And then sighed at the same time when Aomine plainly answered "Nope."

"Dammit. And I was looking forward to today's practice too." Kagami clicked his tongue. "I'll beat him up when I find him."

"As if I'd let you, idiot" Kise and Aomine retorted together. "If you do anything to Kurokocchi…"

Whatever Kise was going to say was interrupted by a loud voice from inside the court.

"Oh look, Shin-chan! Your friends are here. Aww, did they come to cheer for you?"

The three turned to look and saw Takao walking towards them, Midorima reluctantly trailing behind him. Kise waved and said Hi, grinning from ear to ear. "Yaa, Midorimacchi." Aomine and Kagami, in contrast, could not be bothered.

"It's so rare to see you play street basketball, Midormacchi. When there's no weekend practice, you usually immerse yourself in the library" Kise sounded impressed.

"I just got dragged into it. I wasn't really planning to go, but they asked for my help, so."

"I… I see" Kise's smile faltered. Kagami saw 'the guy with hawk's eyes' keel over, snickering. Aomine heard two guys a little away from them- whose names he did not even know- mutter something about pineapples.

"How's the score?" Aomine asked.

Takao coughed and got up, trying to regain his composure. He then cocked his head to the direction of a small blackboard where a guy was writing the scores – one side in white chalk and the other in orange. "As you can see, it's the 3rd quarter and we're ahead by fifty points. Looks like Shin-chan's shooting is in top shape today too."

"Of course." Midorima fixed his glasses. "I have my lucky item- Mr. Rabbit- with me today. There's no way I'd miss."

"Mr. Rabbit?" Kise echoed curiously.

"_That_ Mr. Rabbit" Takao pointed to a bench on the other side of the court where a very… _pink_ bunny mascot was sitting. "Seriously though, I never thought you meant it when you said you were going to bring bigger lucky items next time."

Midorima raised an eyebrow. "Takao. Who was it that suddenly dragged me away from the library to play basketball here? It's a good thing he just happened to be at the drugstore that we passed by, and the manager was kind enough to let him leave earlier than the end of his shift."

"Only because you got on your knees and begged and even helped Mr. Rabbit hand out all the balloons and flyers" Takao snickered, earning a smack on the head from Midorima.

Kagami had a feeling he had seen that pink bunny suit somewhere before. When Midorima mentioned 'drugstore', it clicked. He squinted his eyes to get a closer look.

"…Kuroko?"

All of them turned to Kagami. "Huh?"

Just then, Shutoku's captain, in a very masculine voice yelled out "Oh no! Mr. Rabbit…!"

-x-

"Nnn…"

Slightly curled eyelashes parted as pale eyelids fluttered open, revealing twin turquoise diamonds. Looking around him, Kuroko saw a bunch of different colored… blobs towering over him that turned into worried faces as his hazy vision cleared. Kise, Midorima, Takao and Aomine were staring at him on his right, while Kagami was supporting his head on his left.

" 'Morning. You okay, Kurokocchi?" Kise smiled at him.

Kuroko wanted to say he's okay, but his voice would not come out. He started to cough as soon as he opened his mouth. His throat felt really dry.

"Idiot. Don't try to talk yet. Here, drink." Aomine opened the can of Pocari he got for him.

Kuroko sat up, grabbed the can and- still holding Aomine's hand along with it- eagerly gulped down the refreshingly cold drink, almost finishing the whole thing in one go. He let out a contented sigh then smiled at Aomine. "Thank you, Aomine-kun."

"Sure. Done?"

When Kuroko nodded, Aomine finished the rest then lightly thwacked Kuroko on the head with the empty can. "Idiot. Why are you out here in this heat wearing that… thing?"

Aomine eyed the mascot suit warily as he crumpled the can like the way he did with the other one, and just as easily tossed it in the nearby trash can.

"It was for work" Kuroko answered, deadpan.

"Midorima said you were let off early to go with him. Why didn't you take it off before coming here?" Kagami scolded him.

"Kagami-kun, he took me here as his lucky item. I don't believe in horoscopes, but I'd feel bad if Midorima-kun lost because I took off the suit."

Kuroko did not back down, neither did Kagami.

"The one who just passed out has no right to talk back!"

"Sorry" Kuroko looked away, pouting.

"There, there, it's okay, isn't it? Look, Midorimacchi and the others won so it's all good, right? Right?" Kise said, in an attempt to pacify them.

Looking at the scoreboard, Kuroko saw that Midorima's team scored 62 points more than their opponent. "That's great, Midorima-kun." Upon seeing Kuroko's happy face, no one had the heart to say anything anymore.

Midorima simply huffed. "I wouldn't settle for anything less."

Looking at Kuroko's face filled with relief, the Generation of Miracles' number one shooter made a mental note to thank Kuroko later. After all, as much as he hated to admit it, the one he had trouble getting along with the most inadvertently became his lucky item for that day. He decided to just take it as fate being mysterious sometimes.

"Why were you working today anyway? Or rather, I didn't even know you also took that part-time job." Kagami asked. "Hey, don't tell me it was for that book you wanted?"

Upon hearing the word book, Midorima remembered that the sixth book of the novel series he and Kuroko both liked reading had come out just the day before. But it was so popular, this sequel became out of print just from pre-orders before the actual books even hit the shelf. Midorima himself had to order it as soon as it was available for pre-ordering online just so he could get the first press edition.

Then an idea hit him. He was not a big fan of the series himself, so he figured he'd just give his copy along with the bonus items that came with it to Kuroko as thanks. He can settle for the regular edition once it becomes available again.

"Kuroko…" Midorima began, but before he could speak, he was interrupted by Kise.

"Ah! I almost forgot, I have something for you, Kurokocchi."

Kise handed a brown paper bag with a rather cute flying squirrel logo to Kuroko. From the size of it, Midorima could easily guess what was inside. Even so, he hoped he was wrong. However, seeing Aomine's expression told him his guess was dead on.

"This is…?" Kuroko looked at Kise curiously.

"Open it! Open it!"

Kuroko carefully plucked off the tape that had a matching flying squirrel pattern. He lifted the folded part of the paper bag, and he was just about to look at what was inside when a shadow loomed over all of them. From the length of the shadow, they could tell that it was someone very tall.

"What are you all doing here?" Murasakibara looked down at them with droopy eyes, munching on ketchup-flavored potato chips, four at a time.

"See? I told you it's them. I can recognize Taiga even a mile away." Himuro tagged along, serene smile in place.

"S'up, Tatsuya. Did you need anything?" Kagami asked.

"Yeah. We were looking for you." Himuro squatted in front of Kuroko and ruffled his hair. "Kuroko-kun."

"Me?"

"Yes. Didn't you have something to give him, Atsushi?"

"Murasakibara-kun?" Kuroko shifted his gaze to Murasakibara. He was looking so high up, it seemed like he was straining his neck a little.

"Yup. I went to see Aka-chin yesterday, and when he heard Muro-chin wanted me to come with him to Tokyo today, he told me to give you something."

Murasakibara quickly poured the broken pieces of chips at the bottom of the bag into his mouth, turning the bag upside down and shaking it a few times before crumpling it. He licked his fingers that had turned red from his chips, which made Kise flinch and Midorima's eyebrow twitch. Irritated, Midorima ordered Takao to hurry and grab his bag and got a pack of wet tissues just in time before Murasakibara finished licking all his fingers.

"Thanks" He wiped his hands before fishing inside his body bag for a package wrapped in colorful chiyogami paper. "Here, Kuro-chin. This is for you."

Kuroko set the paper bag down on his lap and obediently took the package from his former captain. Everyone around him peered curiously as he unwrapped it. Kuroko's eyes widened when he saw what was inside.

"It's the book I was looking for." Upon opening the cover, Kuroko noticed a scribble on the first page. "It's signed by the author."

Kuroko's expression was of pure happiness. Kagami remembered the last time he had seen Kuroko like that was when he had the first bite of their school's legendary sandwich. On the other hand, Kise, Midorima and Aomine were all thinking the same thing: Akashi Seijurou was indeed, in many ways, the strongest among them.

-x-

After Kuroko was found and they were sure he was okay, everyone went on their separate ways. Aomine said he had to go see Momoi to pick up something. Kise took the package back from Kuroko before he had the chance to open it, saying something about giving him the wrong thing and getting something else for him instead, then added that it would give him an excuse to see him again, winking. Kagami warned him that he'll beat him up if he kidnaps Kuroko again.

Midorima and Takao, who were left behind by the rest of their teammates a long time ago also left, but not before Midorima told Kuroko he did not like the idea of owing him anything so he will do something for him as thanks for today. He just did not know what yet so he said he'll call him about it later.

Kagami also warned Midorima that if he kidnaps him the way Kise always does he'll also beat him up, which ellicited a "Don't put me in the same category as this creature" from Midorima, a very defiant "Hey! What do you mean by creature? And I don't do it _all the time_! Just sometimes!" from Kise, and a "Die, idiots" from Aomine.

Looking at the time, Kagami figured there was no point in going back to Aida Sports Gym as their teammates were probably done with practice by now. He decided to just go with Kuroko back to the drugstore. That way he reckoned that he can also make sure that Kuroko does not pass out again. After all, he was still wearing the pink rabbit costume.

"Back to my question earlier. I didn't know you were working there too. How come I haven't seen you since I started?" Kagami asked as they were walking on the sidewalk.

"Ah, it was just for today. This morning, I got a call from your manager. He said today was supposed to be your shift but you suddenly took the day off. And for some reason, everyone else he called said they were sick and can't come to work."

'Only an idiot would fall for that' Kagami thought wryly. It was obvious that no one wanted to come to work in this scorching heat. Especially if you had to wear a stuffy mascot suit.

"So he ended up calling me, asking if I was willing to substitute for my friend. I figured since I didn't have plans for the day, I might as well do it. After all, it was 'my friend' who ditched work on short notice."

Kagami's jaw dropped. It looked like his manager got a hold of Kuroko before their coach Riko did, and because of that, Kuroko had agreed to work. In short, he was the root cause behind Kuroko's disappearance after all.

End


End file.
